How to Become a Witch (27 page)

But how does it work? To most nonmagickal folks, divination seems like fortune-telling, almost supernatural. Is it all a hoax, or do some people have amazing psychic skills, or do spirits feed us information through a deck of cards or a handful of chicken bones?

None of the above. One of the principles of magick is that everything is connected. Hindus call this connected universe “Indra’s web”; think of cords of light or energy that run from you to every other object and entity in the cosmos. Since whatever information you need is out there somewhere, you are connected to it. The idea of the Akashic Records, which hold all knowledge (past, present, and future), has also been around for a very long time. Think of them as a Super Internet.

More recently, psychologists have introduced us to the concept of the collective unconscious, a storehouse of human knowledge and memory deep beneath the subconscious mind of any individual. Divination taps into what the universe or our species knows that you are not consciously aware you know.

And fortunetelling? In forecasting events, divination does not “tell the future” because the future is not preordained. Divination can only show trends, patterns, projections, potentials—the flow of events as they will occur if nothing diverts them.

Divination can help you discover insights about yourself that are hidden to normal waking consciousness: who you are and could become, your themes and potentials, your deep motivations and hidden strengths.

Here are some common methods of divination and examples of how they may be used. Since this is an introductory book, we will go into depth only on one basic tool: the pendulum. You can find detailed techniques for the rest of these in specialized books.

Tarot: Many, many beautiful sets of tarot cards are available today; some people collect them because they are so diverse and colorful. The first decks, from about 600 years ago, were Italian, but there are decks with Egyptian, Mayan, Celtic, Goddess, and Native American themes, and a hundred other variations. Many are based on the Rider-Waite Tarot, designed by occult scholar A. E. Waite, which set a new standard when it was published by the Rider Company in 1909. (Today it is often called the Rider-Smith or Waite-Smith deck to acknowledge the artist, Pamela Colman Smith.)

There are three primary approaches to reading the cards. First, each card’s meaning can be assigned in advance, usually by the deck’s designer in an accompanying book. Second, the reader can tap their psychic sensitivity to understand what a card means for a particular client (or “querent”) at that moment. Third, the reader can ask questions to help the querent find their own understanding of each card, so the meaning becomes intensely personal and will vary at each reading.

You can read a single tarot card or choose several and arrange them in a pattern called a spread. Books on tarot are full of spreads, requiring anywhere from two cards to dozens. In any given spread, each place in the pattern has a meaning that will affect how the card is read. For example, suppose you want to know about a potential love relationship, and you do a five-card spread with earth, air, fire, water, and spirit positions. The cards in those positions may answer these questions, respectively:

(Earth)
Are we a good match physically and sexually?

(Air) Are we mentally compatible? Will we communicate well and understand each other?

(Fire) Is it a high-energy relationship? Is there passion?

(Water) Is there a heart connection? Is there romance?

(Spirit) Will we find common ground in terms of our religious beliefs or spiritual paths?

If you have no tarot experience, start with a basic deck like the Rider-Smith and work with it. Once you understand the basic structure of the deck, you can seek a deck, reading style, and spread that work well for you.

Tarot for the nobility

Tarot cards were probably first invented in the Middle Ages, and originally every card in each deck was hand painted, and sometimes gold leaf was added. Each deck was unique, and only the very wealthy could afford them. One of the earliest decks is called the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, commissioned by two noble families in fifteenth-century Italy. Replicas have been printed in recent times, though four cards were missing and modern artists had to create new ones in the same style.

Other Card Sets: Some wonderful card sets other than tarot decks are very popular for guidance and divination. Among them are:

• Goddess cards of several varieties. We really like the
  Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards
  by Doreen Virtue, for the quality and intensity of the art.
  
• Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals
  by Jamie Sams and David Carson
  
• The Druid Animal Oracle
  by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm
  
• The Celtic Tree Oracle: A System of Divination
  by Liz and Colin Murray
  
• AORA Gemstone Oracle Cards: Cards to Explore the Crystal Realms
  by James McKeon and Roberta Carothers
  

The zodiac

If you have a special connection with a specific culture or with animals, trees, stones, or some other aspect of nature, you can find a deck to suit you. Look for them at your nearest metaphysical store or find them online.

Runestones or Runes: These are the (usually twenty-four) letters of Old Norse and Germanic alphabets inscribed on stones or small pieces of wood—a bit like Scrabble tiles but more elegant. You could make your own set out of clay or wood, or purchase sets that are carved on gemstones, polished bone, wood, glass, or ceramic.

Several forms of the runes exist, but the best known is the Elder Futhark. Each letter has a name and meaning apart from its functional use as a letter. Raidho, for example, looks like a stylized capital R and means travel, journey, movement, or change of perspective.

If you draw a rune as part of your regular practice each morning, it can tell you what energy lies ahead for the day. With thought and interpretation, you can use the runes to answer any question.

Casting the Stones: Several methods of divination involve tossing stones onto a cloth or the earth and looking for the relationships among them. Generally, each stone has a particular meaning (news, love, luck, home) or energy related to astrology (sun, moon, Venus, etc.).

Because sets are composed of several stones—thirteen is a favorite number—and they can land in an infinite number of patterns, interpreting the message is challenging. However, it is possible to use them in a simpler way by choosing one stone to represent yourself and two others to symbolize yes and no. Toss the three, and the one closer to the primary stone gives you the answer.

Doreen Valiente, a British Witch and elder who worked with Gerald Gardner, presented one popular version of casting the stones in
Witchcraft for Tomorrow
(Robert Hale Ltd., 1993).

Scrying: Here, the Witch looks deeply into a dark or clear surface in a focused, almost trancelike state of mind and allows images to appear to the inner eye. This technique has been popularized as the “crystal ball” or “magic mirror” sort of fortunetelling.

Real Witches might use a crystal sphere or make a dark mirror for the purpose, but some use a black bowl filled with water. Amber uses a polished slab of obsidian.

Scrying can be used to contact a friend or family member who has passed over or for any other question where an image may bring guidance.

Ouija Boards: Perhaps you have seen these or even used one. The board has the letters of the alphabet and “Yes-No” printed on it, and there is a rolling planchette that you hold lightly while “the spirits” spell out a message. Ouija has a bad reputation, and it’s probably deserved. You can ask to communicate with the spirit of Thomas Jefferson or Saint Francis, but the answers may come from someone (or something) else altogether. There is no controlling who responds or who they claim to be. We can’t recommend the Ouija board, especially for beginners.

Pendulum or Radiesthesia, Dowsing or “Witching”: This is a fairly simple way to get information. Your pendulum can be any small object on a thread or fine chain. Pendulums made for divination are often semiprecious gemstones or lathed from exotic woods.

The pendulum taps into subconscious information and can answer yes or no questions very quickly. Is the road over the mountain passable? Would I enjoy that concert? If I return to school, will I find money for tuition? Is this cantaloupe ripe?

Obtain a pendulum from a metaphysical shop or just tie a thread on a heavy button. Calibrate the length by holding the thread between thumb and forefinger until it swings freely—allow about six inches between your gripping point and the object.

Now ask the pendulum to show you its signal for yes. It might begin moving in a circle, deosil or widdershins. It might swing from side to side or forward and backward. Then ask it to show you the signal for no. Once you have these, any other signal probably means “The issue is in flux” or “You’re asking the wrong question.” Check the signals by asking questions for which you already know the answers. “Am I sitting down?” “Are my eyes purple?” “Is my name Pyewacket Pigglebones?”

Some questions cannot be answered yes or no. Then you can ask something like “Show me the effectiveness of this herb for healing my cough,” or “Show me the relative safety of driving this route today.” The strength and distance of the pendulum’s motion will give you a relative answer, and you can compare it to a different herb or route.

You may begin every session by requesting your favorite deity or spirit guide to help. Then ask: “Can I get accurate information on (this issue) right now?” If not, try again later. End by thanking the pendulum and any spirit being you asked for help.

Closely related is dowsing, where the diviner walks an area with a forked stick or other simple device to find water, pipes, minerals, etc., underground. When you locate a well site, it is called “water witching.” (There is a town in Arizona named Witch Well because the well there was discovered this way.)

Unusual Forms: You may want to try other intriguing forms of divination. The Chinese I Ching has a reputation for great wisdom and depth. Tea lovers can explore tasseomancy, the art of reading tea leaves. A traditional shamanic practice involves collecting, casting, and reading bones from various creatures. You can open a book at random and pick a line (bibliomancy), read ordinary playing cards (cartomancy), look at the lines on people’s hands (palmistry), or gaze into a fire (pyromancy).

Some forms of divination, such as reading the entrails of a freshly sacrificed ox, are more cumbersome and messy. Seriously, Witches do not perform any kind of divination (or sacrifice) that would harm an animal! However, the movements and natural patterns of animals and birds can be omens, and you can learn to read them if you watch closely.